RESS RELEASE

Thursday, 3 May 2007

The British Standards Institution (BSI) today invited event organisers, venues and suppliers to trial the world’s first national standard in sustainable event management.

Designed to provide good practice requirements for planning and managing sustainable events of all sizes and types BS 8901 Sustainable events management system - Specification with guidance for use is now available as a Draft for Public Comment (DPC) prior to its publication in the autumn. During this final development stage BSI is inviting the events industry to test the standard by applying the draft to their own activities and by participating in pilots.

BS 8901 will encompass the complete range of events from large-scale business conferences and one-off events such as the 2012 Olympics, to music festivals, air shows and amateur fundraising events. BS 8901 will help the industry to publicly demonstrate its commitment to sustainability and will provide a route map that explains sustainability in event management as well as how to develop and benchmark this capability in organisations.

As Mike Low, Director of BSI British Standards explained: “With an estimated worth of at least £3 billion, a predicted continued rise in costs, the challenges of climate change and a demand for social responsibility, there is increasing pressure on the event industry to demonstrate good practice in sustainability. Those that are first to use BS 8901 are likely to gain a healthy competitive advantage and those that trial it will help make sure that the standard becomes an invaluable addition to the event management toolkit.”

The Draft for Public Comment period of the new sustainable event management standard BS 8901 runs until 30 June 2007. This is a formal part of the development of a British Standard and preceeds the final publication but the invitation to participate in organised trails is unique to this standard. All comments will be reviewed by BSI and taken into account when publishing the standard in the autumn.

BSI British Standards is the UK’s National Standards Body, working with government, businesses and consumers to represent UK interests and facilitate the production of British, European and international standards to meet economic and social needs. For further information please go to www.bsi-global.com/british_standards.

BS 8901 is the first sector specific specification to follow on from the generic sustainable management standard, BS 8900, that was published in June 2006. BS 8901 will assist those involved in event management to manage their environmental, financial and social risks and impacts spanning all aspects of event management including venue selection, supplier selection and partnerships, procurement, communications, employment, operating procedures linked to hosting the event, transport and ‘end of life’ issues linked to post event management (e.g. waste collection, recycling and re-use/disposal of materials).